The present invention relates to a dicing method for a semiconductor wafer in which a semiconductor wafer with a plurality semiconductor devices formed thereon is diced into the respective separate semiconductor devices by application of plasma etching, a manufacturing method for semiconductor devices including such a dicing method involving the plasma etching as a part of its process, and a formation apparatus for semiconductor wafer dicing masks for forming semiconductor wafer dicing masks for defining dicing lines used for dicing of the respective separate semiconductor devices through the plasma etching.
Conventionally, in manufacturing of such semiconductor devices, after a plurality of semiconductor devices are formed on a circuit formation face of a semiconductor wafer, the formed semiconductor devices undergo an inspection (mainly an inspection of electric characteristic), and based on the result of quality check, flawed (bad) semiconductor devices are marked, for example, on their surfaces, so as to be visibly distinguishable from other semiconductor devices for management of the flawed semiconductor devices.
As such conventional marking methods, a method for forming bad marks on the surface of the flawed semiconductor devices with inks and a method for forming bad marks through formation of resist films are known (see, e.g., Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2000-124270 A).